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Your property taxes are spent on police and fire services, education, utilities, public works, parks and recreation, a judicial system, economic development and more, and you deserve to know how that money is used. Each Sunday, The Post-Crescent examines a slice of that spending: where taxes go, what they buy, and, as often as possible, how the spending compares with similar expenditures elsewhere. If you have a suggestion for our Public Spending Desk, contact Editor/Local Enterprise Andy Thompson at athompson@postcrescent.com or 920-993-1000, ext. 257.

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Nearly every school district across the Fox Valley could see an increase in state aid for the 2013-14 year, according to figures released this week by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

The numbers are one piece of a school district’s budget puzzle, and have been dubbed the “July 1 estimates” because they are just that: estimates.

Before budgets are finalized in October, enrollment counts and property values must be determined. Enrollment counts are submitted to the DPI after the third Friday of September, and property values are reported in early October. The DPI releases final aid numbers Oct. 15.

Typically, state aid and property values are linked, so when one goes up it usually means the other drops. Aid and property taxes are a school district’s two main sources of revenue. The state put revenue limits in place in the mid-1990s.

“The general concept is the greater the value of the property in a district, the less aid you get,” said Don Hietpas, chief financial officer for the Appleton Area School District. “So if your aid is going up in general that means the value of the property in your district must be going down relative to other areas in the state.”

In the Fox Cities, New London and Hortonville are facing estimated aid losses for the coming school year.

New London’s anticipated 4.3 percent drop could result in a 5 percent increase in the tax levy, said Joe Marquardt, business services director. The $644,013 decrease is the result of rising property values and declining enrollment.

State aid accounts more than half of New London’s revenue, which means taxpayers feel the decrease where it hurts — their checkbooks.

“We’ve historically been aided about 65 percent, so when there are changes it has a huge impact on the levy,” Marquardt said. The DPI projects state aid to increase elsewhere in the Fox Valley, which could potentially ease the burden on taxpayers.

Appleton could see an additional $1.2 million in aid during 2013-14, according to the DPI estimates.

While Hietpas said the increase is a good thing — both for the district and its taxpayers — he said the figures could change between now and October.

“Yes it’s a very positive thing that our estimated aid is going up, but it’s just an estimate. It’s hard to get too excited either way, even if it was estimated to go down,” he said.

The Neenah Joint School District is expected to see 1.92 percent more aid, which amounts to $544,008.

Officials are happy to see an increase after dealing with almost a $1 million loss in aid last year. If the projected increase comes to fruition in October, Neenah residents could see lower tax bills, said Paul Hauffe, director of business services.